Prelims – 23rd Nov 23
Enforcement Directorate (ED)
- The ED was established in the year 1956 as an ‘Enforcement Unit’ under the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.
- Later, in 1957, this Unit was renamed as ‘Enforcement Directorate’.
- Presently, it is under the administrative control of the Department of Revenue (Ministry of Finance) for operational purposes.
- ED is responsible for enforcement of the Foreign Exchange Management Act1999 (FEMA), and certain provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA).
- The ED agency is essential to upholding law and order in India’s financial system and safeguarding the rights of the populace.
Powers of ED
- The PMLA gives the ED the authority to detain those who are accused of committing economic crimes.
- The ED has the authority to conduct searches and seizures of assets and real estate that have been obtained unlawfully.
- Individuals and organisations whose bank accounts are suspected of being used for money laundering or other economic crimes may have their accounts frozen by the ED.
- Properties and assets that were acquired illegally may be seized by the ED.
First Information Report
What is an FIR?
- The term first information report (FIR) is not defined in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973 or in any other law.
- In police regulations or rules, information recorded under Section 154 of CrPC is known as FIR.
- Section 154 states that every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced to writing.
- A copy of the information (as recorded) shall be given (free of cost) to the informant.
- In essence, 3 important elements of an FIR:
- the information must relate to the commission of a cognizable offence,
- it should be given in writing or orally to the head of the police station and
- it must be written down and signed by the informant, and its key points should be recorded in a daily diary.
What is a Zero FIR?
- A zero FIR can be filed in any Police Station by the victim, irrespective of their residence or the place of occurrence of crime.
- A police station that receives a complaint regarding an alleged offence committed in the jurisdiction of another police station, registers an FIR and then transfers it to the relevant police station for further investigation.
- No regular FIR number is given and after receiving the Zero FIR, the revenant police station registers a fresh FIR and starts the investigation.
- It came up after the recommendation in the report of the Justice Verma Committee set up after the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape case to suggest amendments to the Criminal Law.
- The objective of a Zero FIR is to ensure the victim doesn’t have to run from pillar to post to get a police complaint registered.
- The provision is meant to provide speedy redressal to the victim so that timely action can be taken after the filing of the FIR.
Smart Cities Mission (SCM)
- It was launched on 25 June, 2015, with the objective to promote cities that provide core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment.
- 100 cities have been selected to be developed as Smart Cities (through a two-stage competition) in various rounds from 2016 to 2018, with each getting five years from their selection to complete the projects.
- It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
- The Central Government will give financial support to the extent of Rs. 48,000 crores over 5 years i.e., on an average 100 crore per city per year.
- An equal amount on a matching basis is to be provided by the State/ULB.
- The six fundamental principles on which the concept of Smart Cities is based are: